Hi all you E30 wizards I have a question that needs answering. I just replaced the pads and sensors on my 88 325i cabrio- replaced the sensors because I was sick of the annoying red light. After I was finished, was thrilled to see the light was off.... for awhile. It is completely randomly coming on and off. At one point I could bang the dash (to make the tach work) and the light popped on, so I thought that there is a loose connection to the light but the current to the light never stopped. Then it was off all day today, even if I banged on the dash. I traced both sensor wires and they both look good.

Any ideas???? Could this have anything at all to do with the batteries in the cluster going dead?

Thanks!

Brian

Chris de la Cruz

01-23-2008, 07:17 PM

pull the bulb out.

no it has nothing to do with the cluster battery

Dropped325i

01-23-2008, 07:18 PM

*edited*

wow my mistake lol..

my first post, i thought u wrote interior light.

when i deleted my sensors and shortened the wiring, i was able to follow the cable all the way back into my car, and i just cut and lopped 2 of the 3 wires (i'd have to double check the ones, i think i have one done in the basement i snipped off of when i first did it by the calipers, now i removed all that wiring back much farther) to turn it off. u didnt need new sensors unless you need a sensor to tell you when your pads are low ;)

bimmerboy12

01-23-2008, 09:15 PM

Bulb-pulling is not an option. Shorting the circuit to turn the bulb off is not an option.
The car hadn't had sensors since I bought it.

*edited*

wow my mistake lol..

my first post, i thought u wrote interior light.

when i deleted my sensors and shortened the wiring, i was able to follow the cable all the way back into my car, and i just cut and lopped 2 of the 3 wires (i'd have to double check the ones, i think i have one done in the basement i snipped off of when i first did it by the calipers, now i removed all that wiring back much farther) to turn it off. u didnt need new sensors unless you need a sensor to tell you when your pads are low ;)

Dropped325i

01-23-2008, 10:25 PM

its not shorting the circuit... but anyways.. good luck..

check from the bulb socket wiring back then...

bimmerboy12

01-24-2008, 07:43 AM

You are right, COMPLETING the circuit rather. Anyways, here is an excerpt that was given over on R3V...

If you aren't getting voltage or the correct current, the problem is very likely on the cluster circuit board. Remove the board and re-flow the solder around the 220 ohm resistor. This resistor is mounted next to the C1 blue connector on the PC board. It sticks off of the board on long leads. There are on-line pictures to locate the resistor, and you can confirm the correct part by looking for the red-red-brown color bands.

its not shorting the circuit... but anyways.. good luck..

check from the bulb socket wiring back then...

Dropped325i

01-24-2008, 10:02 AM

oops, you cant edit on here? i keep thinking interior light, thats why i wrote bulb socket wiring back... someday i will look at a cluster closely..

to need to add solder to it, or to say reflow, i know my soldering should never need to be redone, doesnt sound like they are soldered to well from the factory and that suprises me, i would expect better from bmw..

T.Dot_E30

01-24-2008, 10:06 AM

Bulb-pulling is not an option. Shorting the circuit to turn the bulb off is not an option.
The car hadn't had sensors since I bought it.

Curious as to why its not an option?

It's a feature for the lazy. I change my wheels often enough to have a look at the brakes to know when they are getting low.

The brakes in my e30s last too long anyways, its not like your brakes will magically need changing every few months.

bimmerboy12

01-24-2008, 10:36 AM

Ahhh, to clarify- not an option because I want the feature to work and I don't want to shortcut or jimmy rig. I am very anal about my tire rotation, brake life, etc. as well, but a stout believer in originality. It is a feature that is pretty nifty and ahead of it's time, so I respect that and want it to function. Wierd? maybe. Will it make me feel better that no bulbs are pulled or wires snipped in my car? definitly.

Curious as to why its not an option?

It's a feature for the lazy. I change my wheels often enough to have a look at the brakes to know when they are getting low.

The brakes in my e30s last too long anyways, its not like your brakes will magically need changing every few months.

BmW1819

01-24-2008, 01:44 PM

well ill help out again :) in the cluster there is a solder broken and gotta resolder it :) it's not on the si board pm if u need more info

bimmerboy12

01-24-2008, 02:58 PM

What is the si board?

well ill help out again :) in the cluster there is a solder broken and gotta resolder it :) it's not on the si board pm if u need more info

BMW BMXer

01-24-2008, 03:23 PM

Service Indicator.

The thing that lights up green yellow and red below your gauges, and causes a whole bunch of other dumb issues when it's batteries die.

BmW1819

01-24-2008, 04:43 PM

yea it's not the si board . it where your tach and speedo , temp , fuel gague plug into